http://www.media.scot.nhs.uk/

 

Do you know what's going on in the NHS?

If you would like to know more about what is going on in the health service, you may be interested in ISD Library's media monitoring service.

Every working day, ISD Library staff scan through the paper and web versions of several Scottish newspapers and through the BBC's news website. We take a note of any health stories which we find, and then list around ten of these in an e-mail update which we send out to a list of subscribers. Each item included in our update contains a web link where available, so that readers can click on the link to read the full version of a story.

We aim to send out our updates twice a day, by 10.30 in the morning and 4.00 in the afternoon. We also provide a summary of weekend news by 1.00 every Monday lunchtime.

As well as this updating service, we also maintain a page on the SHOW website which enables readers to search a database for recent news coverage of a particular story or topic. This database has been maintained since February 2002 and contains 30,000 records, although the search facility only allows you to view the most recent 100 stories on any topic - usually enough!

If you would like to be added to our list for e-mail updates, please contact ISD Library on 0131 275 6423, or e-mail ISD Library. The SHOW page is available at http://www.media.scot.nhs.uk/.

ISD Library's manager, Alan Jamieson, has written an account of the development of the media monitoring service, Health in the News: Thoughts of a Media Monitor. This article also contains some observations on the nature of newspapers' websites, as well as on the use of ISD data in the media. A print-friendly PDF version of the article is also available.

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